


Aethertale

by SnoweWoulf



Series: Aethertale [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Aethertale AU, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-18 14:09:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9388667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnoweWoulf/pseuds/SnoweWoulf
Summary: I have to admit, I had a lot of fun coming up with the premise of this story. I honestly really like Shady Scientist Guy, so he might get a real name and a description sometime in the future. For now, he'll remain in the shadows and his journal entries will preface each coming chapter.In case you're wondering, SSG mentions that they slowed the WORLD to run in real time after a while, but you can assume that he gets impatient and fast-forwards through the more boring bits. He might be under the guise of saving humanity, but he really just enjoys his god-like control.





	1. Prologue

Entry No. 1

            Finally, the Aether Engine is complete, and diagnostics show that the system is running smoothly. All we need to do now is input the WORLD DATA, and Project: NEW WORLD can begin. If our theories are correct, the Engine should begin its function instantaneously, and the WORLD DATA will become a self-sustaining miniature universe that expands and evolves separately from our own.

            There has been another debate on the ethics of artificially creating and maintaining an entirely new world. Some are of the opinion that “playing God” was what got us in this situation in the first place, and going through with the project would only lead to more trouble. Perhaps we are playing God, here. However, I will not sit idly by, and watch the human race die out when a possible solution is at our fingertips.

            If this works, we could start over. With the Aether Engine and the DETERMINATION factor, any mistakes made could be quickly rectified. But I am getting ahead of myself. First, we have to wait and see how things pan out.

 

Entry No. 2

            Everything seems to be functioning properly. The DATA is running as we had predicted it would, for the most part. It has been interesting to watch entire nations rise and fall; an entire 1900 years of history has been created in a matter of days. We have slowed the program down to run in real time, now.

            My eye has been drawn to a particular area of the WORLD MAP, where a kingdom of humans has triumphed over creatures known as monsters. The monsters have been sealed under a mountain known as Ebott, and have begun making their home in a place the monster king has dubbed the Underground. I wonder how this will pan out?

Entry No. 3

            A group of monster scientists have caught my attention. Curiously, they have begun experimenting with DETERMINATION in hopes of breaking the barrier keeping the monsters trapped in the Underground. They have isolated the TRAIT from the human SOULs they managed to collect, and are injecting it into dying monsters. Of course, the monster’s bodies will be unable to handle the strain, and their experiments will end in failure.

 

Entry No. 4

            The scientists are now in the process of creating a vessel with which to contain the monster SOULs they vainly hope to harvest. I do have to admit that selecting a vessel which is neither human nor monster is quite clever, though. However, a flower seems like an odd choice.

            No matter. I believe it is almost time to activate the SAVE, LOAD, and RESET functions. Once I do so, the person with the highest DETERMINATION factor will immediately be able to make use of the TITLE SCREEN. I am not yet certain what the limitations of these functions will be, and how much power over the WORLD they will yield. But that is the reason for experimentation, is it not?

 

Entry No. 5

            The scientist known as W. D. Gaster could be a problem. He noticed the imminent flux of the WORLD’s timelines that the TITLE SCREEN functions will inevitably cause, and is planning to make a move to stop it. I have seen what this man can do, and it frightens me to think he might actually have the power to ruin the experiment before it can truly begin.

            Just this once, I will interfere and erase Gaster. I do not think it will be necessary to erase his oldest son, as well, but I will keep an eye on him nonetheless.

 

Entry No. 6

            It’s the _flower._

Entry No. 7

            Interestingly, the flower has taken on the memories and personality of the late monster prince, who died on the soil in which the flower grew. It was quite confused, at first, but has quickly discovered how to use the TITLE SCREEN properly. It learned to SAVE before making important decisions, and to RESET when mistakes are made. This is far more fascinating than I had originally anticipated.

 

Entry No. 8

            The flower is becoming bored and apathetic. It has tried everything there is to do in the Underground, including _genocide_ , of all things. At least now the flower seems content to let things be for a while. After several hundred RESETs, the timeline is finally moving forward again, and I think that it is high time to hand the WORLD’s reigns to someone else.

            A curious child with a red SOUL stumbled into the Underground today. I gave *** DETERMINATION factor a bit of a tweak, so it is now higher than the flower’s. This will be my final interference, so I hope the child is a fast learner. It would be a shame to terminate the experiment so soon.

 

Entry No. 9

            Activating the TITLE SCREEN functions may have been a mistake. The WORLD is becoming unstable due to the constant stopping and starting of timelines. If this continues, critical system failure is likely. I will not interfere again, however, and will merely continue to observe events as they occur naturally. Perhaps the problem will resolve itself, if given enough time.

 

Entry No. 10

            I was aware that Gaster’s oldest son had somehow retained some memories of his father, but I didn’t know just how much of the data was actually left. He is using the instability caused by the flux of the timelines to claw his way out of the Void. Perhaps this is a good thing, though. If anyone in that WORLD could figure out how to make it stable again, it is Dr. W. D. Gaster.

 

Entry No. 11

            Gaster actually managed to piece himself together again. I had a feeling he would. Even other people’s memories of him seem to be slowly returning. This is quite interesting, indeed.

 

Entry No. 12

            The child destroyed the RESET button, at Gaster’s prompting. Now that events are moving forward through an alpha timeline, the WORLD seems to be slowly regaining its equilibrium. I believe I have gathered enough data on the TITLE SCREEN functions and their flaws to move on to STAGE TWO of Project: NEW WORLD. The subjects should be arriving within the next few days.

 

Entry No. 13

            The WORLD is finally stable enough to send the subjects through the Gateway. There currently isn’t any way to get them back once they are in, but that is precisely why we chose orphans and street kids: no one will make a fuss about their sudden disappearances.

            STAGE TWO begins today. I hope for the sake of all humanity that it is a success.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to admit, I had a lot of fun coming up with the premise of this story. I honestly really like Shady Scientist Guy, so he might get a real name and a description sometime in the future. For now, he'll remain in the shadows and his journal entries will preface each coming chapter.
> 
> In case you're wondering, SSG mentions that they slowed the WORLD to run in real time after a while, but you can assume that he gets impatient and fast-forwards through the more boring bits. He might be under the guise of saving humanity, but he really just enjoys his god-like control.


	2. A New Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new adventure with new faces. And who better to initiate a newbie to the world of Undertale than Flowey himself?

 

  _Entry No. 14_

 _I designated Mount Ebott as the location to which the subjects would enter the WORLD. After watching the story of the Underground play out, it seemed a fitting place for a new beginning. The first five made it through without any problems. Subject 06, however, was not so lucky. She was “shredded”, for lack of a better term, and scattered into the Void as Gaster had been. I am currently running a diagnostic in an attempt to figure out exactly what went wrong._ _  
Subjects 01, 02, and 03 displayed a fair amount of hostility towards the other two before I sent them on their way-- particularly so towards 05, who is both a mage and non-human. Hopefully, they do not end up killing one another before I am able to collect enough data on how their presence affects the WORLD._

_*    *    *    *    *_

__  
Entering the WORLD through the Gateway had been an odd and indescribable sensation, like being squished down to the size of a microbe and expanded into infinity all at once. I landed face first onto a leaf-littered patch of earth and had to take a minute to gather my senses before getting up and brushing myself off. The first things I noticed were how clean the air smelled and how _green_ everything was. I felt a grin spread across my face as I took in my surroundings.  
            "Beautiful, isn't it?" asked Nazaire, his storm-grey eyes gazing at the sky through the gaps in the canopy. He started speaking again before I was able to scrounge up enough words for an adequate reply. "The others are already off exploring. You'd better watch out for Avadale and Troy, though. I think they want us dead."  
            I frowned slightly. "Yeah, I gathered as much," I said, "why do I get the feeling that you're going to leave me behind?"  
            His eyes flickered to mine. "Snowe, we've been stuck with each other for our entire lives, out of necessity. I think it's about time we parted ways."  
            "Out of necessity," I repeated, "I wasn't aware that that's how you felt about it."  
            "We have a chance to abandon the past, and create a new future for ourselves," he said, his expression showing none of the emotions I would have thought appropriate for such a sudden and brutal farewell.  
            "And having your best friend around while you do that is too much 'past' for you to handle?"  
            Nazaire sighed. "It's not like we can't find each other later."  
            I shook my head at him, a twinge of anger sparking in my chest. "Whatever," I said turning away and trudging further up the mountain, "good luck with whatever it is you plan to do."  
            He headed in the opposite direction without another word. He didn't stop me. Why didn't he stop me?   
            Feeling hurt and confused, I just continued walking and allowed my mind to wander worlds away. Away from the frustration of being left alone in an unfamiliar place, no matter how  _gorgeous_ it was. Thus distracted, it was no wonder I didn't notice the gaping hole in the earth before foolishly falling into it. Fortunately, I managed to slow my descent at the last second using wind magic, and landed on my feet onto a bed of golden flowers.  
            "Nice job, genius," drawled a voice from nearby, "you mind getting off the flowers?"  
            "Where are you?" I asked, tiptoeing cautiously out of the flowerbed.  
            "Down here," replied one of the flowers, an irritated expression creasing his face.  
            "Oh, hello," I greeted him tilting my head curiously. I wasn't sure what manner of creatures I expected to find in this world, but it sure wasn't talking flowers.  
            "Yeah, howdy. I'm Flowey. Flowey the flower," he said unenthusiastically, "what are you? Some kinda weird half-breed?"  
            I frowned in confusion before I realized what he meant. I did  _look_ mostly human, with the exception of my fluffy, white ears and tail. "Ahh, no. No," I replied, "my kind are known as rengeku, but most call us 'moon folk'. I'm, uh, not from around here."  
            Flowey raised an eyebrow. "So... you're some kinda alien, then?"  
            "I hadn't thought of it that way, but yeah. That would be accurate, I think."  
            "Riiiight," he said slowly, "anyway, you'd better get working on getting back up there. There's nothing left in the Underground, anymore. They've even shut down the Core."  
            It would have been a simple matter to use magic to propel myself up and out of the Ruins if a sudden upset deep within the earth hadn't made that impossible. Several large boulders cascaded down the side of the mountain, sending debris down upon us and blocking the exit. I instinctively threw myself to the ground, holding my body over Flowey in order to shield him from the falling rubble. We had to endure several more minutes of violent tremors and getting pelted by rocks before the earthquake finally subsided.  
            I winced and rubbed the back of my head where a particularly large rock had struck me before conjuring up a small magelight for us to see by. "You alright, Flowey?" I asked, looking down at the little golden flower.  
            He stared at me for a few moments before responding. "Why did you do that...?"  
            "One of those rocks could have crushed and killed you," I said plainly.  
            Flowey gazed into my eyes for a long time, as if searching for something. "The world is just full-a idiots like you, isn't it?" he asked under his breath, "well, I guess I'm going to have to lead you through the Underground before you get lost and die of starvation, then. I don't exactly want to get stuck with a rotting corpse."  
            I smirked, slightly amused. "I would appreciate that."  
            Flowey and I made our way through the Ruins, the former popping up at certain intervals to guide me in the right direction and help me get around puzzles that hadn't been properly deactivated before the power was shut down. I was too much in awe of everything to make much conversation (not that my companion seemed too keen on talking, to begin with). What little I had seen of this world was already so much different from the one I'd come from. One could breathe the air without choking on smoke and ash or walk in any given direction without running into another person.  
            "Congratulations," said Flowey, popping up next to the doorway of a large house, "you're pretty much through the Ruins. Rest up if you want, and then go through the basement to get to Snowdin. I'll meet you there."  
            "There are places you can't go, huh?" I inquired.  
            "Yeah," he replied, "Curse of having roots instead of legs, I guess."  
            "Wait right here," I said, an idea striking me. I came back moments later with an empty flower pot and a pie server (the closest thing I could find to a trowel).  
            "Are you ser--!? Absolutely not!" he snapped, "there's NO WAY you're putting me in a flower pot like a common house plant."  
            "Why not?" I asked with a frown, "look, it'll be easier if I can carry you around with me and take you places you couldn't normally go. You could even use your vines to move around if you really wanted to."  
            Flowey did not look convinced.  
            "I  _promise_ I will re-plant you after you get me through the Underground," I said, my eyes pleading.  
            He folded his leaves across his stem and exhaled in exasperation. "Fine," he conceded, "Just... be careful, okay?"  
            "Of course," I replied with a nod. I began shoveling out some soft soil and filled the pot about halfway before carefully digging around Flowey. He watched me nervously, becoming even more anxious when I went to pull him from the ground. I picked him up and placed him gently in his new terracotta vessel.  
            He settled into the pot and patted the earth around him so that it was a little snugger. "I guess this isn't so bad," he decided.  
            I offered him a small smile before lifting the pot from the ground and taking him inside. Now that I got a good look at the house, it was rather quaint and cozy. It was quite tidy, other than the layer of dust that blanketed every surface. Obviously, no one had been living here for several months.  
            "Bedrooms are on the right, space case," Flowey informed me irritably.  
            "Oh, yeah. Sorry," I replied with a frown, "I was just wondering. Where is everyone? Why'd they leave?"  
            "I don't suppose you'd be satisfied with the short version?"  
            "You've got time, don't you?" I asked, heading into the first room I came across. I set Flowey on the dresser and sat down on the bed, watching him expectantly.  
            He sighed deeply and began explaining the tale of the Underground at length. Of the human and monster war, and the barrier that had been erected, he told me with an air of apathy. However, he seemed almost... bitter when he spoke of the monster prince and the first human who fell into the Underground, and ghosts of emotions played in his words when spoke of Frisk and their adventure to shatter the barrier.  
            I was silent for a long while before speaking again. "You stayed behind because you feel as if you have to pay for your crimes," I said. It wasn't a question, and he didn't deny it.  
            "What about you?" Flowey asked, instead of responding, "Why are you here?"  
            "That," I began, "is a much harder question to answer. I suppose the simple answer is that I'm a guinea pig. One of six, actually."  
            "What's the not-so-simple answer?"  
            "The world I came from is dying, and there are several desperate movements taking place to try either to save it or to simply save mankind," I replied, "The other test subjects and I are here to make sure that an exodus to a world like this one is possible."  
            "Golly. How d'ya manage to kill an entire planet?" he inquired.  
            "Oh, there are ways. Tons of smoke and volcanic ash being blown up into the atmosphere will do the trick. The blocking out of sunlight causes a chain reaction of starvation that eventually kills everything. Everything  _organic,_ anyway," I explained grimly.  
            "Let me guess..."  
            "Some scientists were foolish enough to create android super-soldiers with advanced artificial intelligence and an apparent inclination toward mass genocide."  
            "So now they think they can just run away to someone else's world and escape the problems they created," he said.  
            "Guess some of them figure that if you can't fix something that's beyond repair, you should get the hell outta Dodge before it explodes," I replied, "others are desperately clinging to our world, trying to make peace with the androids and looking for a way to clean up the air."  
            He frowned deeply and seemed to lose himself in thought, before just shaking his head. "I think we've talked enough," said Flowey simply, "you should sleep."  
            "Enough depressing stuff for one day, huh?"  
            "Yeah. That, and I don't want you complaining about being tired when we make the rest of the trip through the Underground."  
            "Alright," I agreed, snuggling under the warm blankets, "Night, Flowey."  
            It took me a while-- a long while-- to fall asleep. My brain kept working through the day's events, trying to process everything that had happened. Despite having parted ways with my best friend, there were so many new things to explore that I couldn't help but feel excited and hopeful. I didn't know then just what kind of adventure was waiting for me in the coming days within the WORLD, or the choices I would have to make that would ultimately decide its fate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .:EDIT:. Concept art for subjects 01-05 have been drawn up and posted on my dA! I apologize for the relatively low quality. They were only intended to be quick visual references for future use. Each of the characters will get at least one, much nicer drawing later on down the road.  
>  Feel free to check out my deviantArt page here: http://snowewoulf.deviantart.com/


End file.
